SHERMAN JEWELRY IS FETCHING HIGHER & HIGHER PRICES. ARE OURS TOO LOW??

Have you been watching any auctions for Sherman jewelry on ebay lately? I have. In fact, I desperately wanted the gorgeous bracelet shown below but it just went too high for me:

It has all the elements collectors are looking for: great color (lavender); wide (1 1/8" wide) and from the vendor's description, it's in "excellent condition". The winning bid was $357.52 USD.

The seller also had the matching stunning earrings shown on the left in a second auction finishing shortly after the first. The same bidder won both auctions and that, quite honestly, was a smart move as they obviously belong together. I think there was even a brooch in yet another auction but I don't know the outcome of that one and couldn't find it later. The earrings went for $75 USD.

So add it up and this bidder has paid $432.52 for what is now a "set". Is that a good price? I'd say the winner got a good deal for Sherman jewelry in this color and condition. But as you can see, it didn't come cheap.

Buying sets of Sherman jewelry is always a wise investment: they're simply worth more to collectors. These days, when I'm scrounging for Sherman, I'm always on the lookout for sets ie.. a buyer who wears her Sherman prefers a necklace to have matching earrings, or a brooch that comes with earrings. Sometimes people are new to buying Sherman, do as I did initially: they buy up a necklace here, a brooch there, earrings here, a bracelet there and end up with lots of nice individual pieces that have no mates. If you do that, then try to keep an eye out for matching pieces. Surprisingly, you can find them if you wait long enough. And it's actually fun and quite fulfilling when you do find a match.

But for the most part, while it's more expensive to buy sets, or better yet, 2-3 piece parures, it's always the better investment. This past week I've enjoyed sales on several pieces of Sherman from OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE but most of those have been sets. Smart shoppers those! My pink grande parure from a couple of posts back is gone. So is my fabulous faux alexandrite Brooch/earring and bracelet set. The lovely emerald green and clear navette necklace/earring set has a sale pending too, along with a highy desirable fuschia baguette bracelet.

What is this saying about Sherman? It's still very much in demand. What's it saying about our prices for Sherman? That our prices are still very reasonable. What's should it be saying to you? Get over to our RUBY LANE SHOP now while we still have some good sets left at affordable prices, because quite frankly, with the dollars folks are paying on ebay, which is usually the cheapest place to buy Sherman, our prices are starting to look way too low! So get over to our shop now and grab yourself a bargain while you can. How about this gorgeous necklace/earring demi:

It's yours for only $295! What a bargain!

SHOULD YOU BUY JUST A SHERMAN BROOCH or SHERMAN EARRINGS or a SHERMAN SET?

Recently a colleague of mine who buys, collects and sells Shermans like I do, was telling me about one of her customers who is hell-bent on investing in Sherman jewelry but is still rather new at it. She apparently knows what to look for in terms of color and condition, but because she loves to wear Sherman brooches and bracelets, she's been busy buying up just brooches or just bracelets.

Well while there's absolutely no reason a buyer shouldn't do that if that's what she likes to wear, if you are an investor in Sherman or plan to sell it down the way, you should ALWAYS be looking to acquire sets. A Sherman brooch with matching earrings will always be more valuable than just the brooch or earrings. If that brooch and earrings are also paired with a matching bracelet, as in the photo below from my site at SHERMAN JEWELRY SHOWCASE, or if you can find a set that includes a necklace with the brooch and earrings, or even better yet, a 4-piece set of brooch, earrings, bracelet and necklace, then you have found a super valuable Sherman parure and it's definitely worth buying because then it has become a true investment. Incidentally, this applies to all the famous vintage

designers: wherever you can, try to get sets by Schiaparelli, Shreiner, Weiss, Miriam Haskell, Kenneth J. Lane ... the list goes on.

Why are sets so much more valuable? After all, you might not like wearing clip-on earrings but you love necklaces or bracelets. Part of the reason, as is common with vintage jewelry, the sets have become separated over the years. People have sold off a bracelet to one person and the matching brooch to someone else. Bottom line then is 2, 3 and 4-piece sets are much harder to obtain, and as you know, the rarer something is, the greater its value. That's why my colleague has now counselled her eager buyer to look for sets where she can. She doesn't have to wear all the pieces at the same time if she doesn't want to; she just needs to have as many sets as she can get!

But here's something you can do (and it's kind of fun) if you have only piece of Sherman ie. a brooch or necklace. You can become a hunter! Attend estate auctions in your aread. Online, scour eBay, Ruby Lane, Trocadero, eCrater or Cyber Attic. Or simply just type Sherman jewelry or Sherman Jewellery into Google or Yahoo and see what you can find. If you're really lucky you might find earrings that are a perfect match for that brooch or necklace you love.

Is it impossible? Not at all. I have found wonderful matches that way and have been able to turn a 1 or 2-piece set into a valuable 3-piece parure like my Sherman fushia set of necklace, earrings and brooch shown below. Because of the color, fuschia, each of the pieces alone is valuable, but as a set, it's value is many times greater.